Mystical
by ABeautifulBrokenMess
Summary: Some things just happen.
1. Chapter 1

**Part One**

Tony Stark was a complicated man. He had layers, not a shallow airhead like so many news organizations had led themselves to believe. Just because someone enjoyed the sweet company of busty, blonde hair woman didn't mean that he was a bad person, it just meant that he was horny that day.

Except he wasn't. Tony never actually had sex with those women, he shuddered just thinking about it. He always led them into his house, stumbling drunkenly for the cameras, and then once he closed the door and secured the blinds, he just stopped. As if at a loss as to what he was to do with himself after that. Usually he paid them off, telling them to lie for him and sent them on their way. Except for her.

"Baby, aren't we supposed to be fucking?" The blonde sauntered over to him, rubbing her hands along his shoulders. He only shook his head, and pushed her away.

"What's wrong? You look so tense- I could help you with that y'know." She winked at him, and he just rolled his eyes, sighing.

"Do you not want me?" He winced and shook his head, bracing for her reaction. Instead of the tears, or the screaming, or the thrown objects, he got a sigh. One so drenched in sadness, a tired heart mirrored within himself. He tilted his head in confusion, his coffee brown eyes swimming in an emotion he hadn't experienced in a while.

Hope.

The girl was silent for a second, biting her lip in agitation, as if she was scared of his reaction. But in reality, who should be scared of a broken man's thoughts?

"Have you ever hidden a part of yourself from the world? Have you ever had to lie to save your life, to save your freedom?" She said this with hesitation, as if she was afraid of his rejection, or his ridicule. He raised an eyebrow at her, answering her question. He was being surprisingly quiet, for a man with the last name Stark. But he wanted to hear what she had to say, not interrupt her by his foolish words that so often good him in trouble.

"I guess you have. Have you ever felt so alone that when you scream it echoes in your thoughts as well?" A silent tear rolled down his cheek, feeling her pain. He grabbed her hand and led her over to the sofa, where they both sat down to wallow in their shared depression.

"Every fucking day." Her head snapped up at the gravelly sound of his voice. His eyes were watery, and his fists were clenched tight. He could feel his walls breaking down with every word this woman spoke. It was like he had found a sister in arms, someone he could finally cry with, and laugh with.

He found a true friend.

"Tony, what do you have to hide? You're so powerful, so rich. Why would you have to hide from yourself to make others happy."

"My father, even though he's ash in the ground, still rules my life to this very day." His dark tone of voice signaled the end of that conversation.

The rest of that night they just sat on that couch and talked, and laughed, and cried together. Even though he had known Obie for most of his life, he still felt closer to this woman who he had just met.

That morning, Pepper walked in to find a fully clothed Tony asleep on the couch next to a fully clothed woman. She shook her head, and blinked her eyes. In her time at Stark Industries, that was probably the weirdest thing she had seen. She woke him up, and just walked out of the room, knowing her presence wasn't needed.

He bleary blinked at the girl next to him, someone he knew he could always call his best friend. She was an exception to the rule.

"Starla? Starla wake up?" He shook her shoulder. She shot up, but then relaxed when she saw Tony next to her.

"What time is it?" She stood up and stretched, feeling the cracking of her bones deep within her.

"It's almost nine, why?" Her eyes widened.

"Shit!" She tried to run out of the door, but Tony stopped her. He wrote down his cell phone number, all of his addresses, and his personal email on a sheet of paper.

"If you need me, call me. I would do anything for you. I know we just met, but I feel like we're siblings." He smiled at her, and hugged her tight, his chest constricting at the thought of letting her go. She walked out of the door, smiling at him. Her eyes flashed yellow for a second, but then changed back. He ignored it, thinking it was a trick of the light. He watched her until she disappeared down the driveway. He looked up at the ceiling.

"JARVIS?"

"Yes, sir?" The English accent echoed through the room, and he smiled.

"Make me some coffee. Please. I have a busy day ahead of me."

For the first time in his life, Tony Stark started the day with a smile on his face.

It had been four months since that night, and Tony still talked to her. She kept him sane, kept him on the straight path. Yes, he still "partied", at least in the public's eyes, but to everyone that knew him, really knew him -Starla, Pepper, Happy, Rhodey- he was a broken alcoholic with an affinity for blowing things up.

It was Christmas, and Tony sat on the same couch they had connected on with a Scotch in his hand. The fireplace cast a warm light in the empty room, causing Tony to feel even lonelier. Pepper and Happy had gone home for the holidays, not to return until after New Year's. Rhodey was in Afghanistan, not scheduled to come home until that summer. Starla hadn't responded to his text messages in a week, and it was starting to worry him. She had always said that she could handle herself, so he hadn't given it much thought.

_She's probably with family._ He took another sip of the drink, relishing in the burn it gave as it slid down his throat. He sat in a bittersweet silence for a while before JARVIS spoke.

"Sir, there seems to be a visitor on the front porch." Tony scrunched his eyebrows together and looked at the door.

"Are you sure?" He stood up and walked towards the entryway, wondering who could be on his doorstep at 10 o'clock on Christmas.

"All of my sensors affirm this statement, sir." Tony shrugged and opened the door, not at all prepared for the sight in front of him.

"Holy shit." In front of him sat a teary eyed child, her mocha skin covered with dirt and blood. She had a note scrunched in her hand and could only stare up at him with big, round, _purple_ eyes. The only clean part on her body were the lines on her face where the tears were running.

"Are you Tony Stark?" Her soprano like voice coupled with the pleading of her eyes shook him to his very core, and he hollowly nodded.

"Here." She handed him the note, and pulled her hole-ridden jacket closer around her shaky form. He pulled her into the house, making sure no one had seen her.

"JARVIS, code red. Lock down the house, no one goes in, no one goes out." The AI wordlessly complied, bullet proof shutters forming around the house, blocking them in. The girl could only stare in blank sadness, her hollow eyes staring up at the man. He shifted his eyes away awkwardly, and looked at the note. It was the same paper that he had given Starla all those months ago, his current address circled in black permanent marker. On the back was a note.

"Tony," it read, "I'm so sorry to spring this on you, but you promised to do anything for me, so please, take care of her. I know your first thought will be to call CPS, but please, don't. She's beyond special, they wouldn't know what to do with her. Please do this. For me." He chewed on his bottom lip and looked at the broken girl, shifting awkwardly in front of the door.

"What's your name?" His voice startled her, and she ended up jumping back and tripping over herself, falling flat on her behind. He went to help her up, but she shied away from him.

"Candi Jackson, at your service." She sounded prim and proper, well, as prim and proper as you could sound for a girl who had been crying for who knows how long. Her voice still sounded quiet and high pitched, but there was an air of faked confidence, and Tony could only credit the girl for trying. He squatted in front of her.

"What do you like to do?" She stared at him for a long while, and at first he didn't think she would answer.

"Dance. I would sneak into the ballets in the city and copy their moves." She seemed to open up slightly when talked about herself, a topic she knew what to say in.

"What's your favorite type of dancing?"

"I like swing the most. I just never had the right partner." His lips twitched in thought.

"How old are you?"

"Nine." His eyes widened. She seemed so small, so frail. She could easily pass for six, if she tried.

"But you're so small?" He stared at her thin wrists, and barely there thighs. You could see through her clothes that she hadn't been properly fed where she came from, her shoulder blades and collarbone sticking out at sharp angles.

"There were a lot of kids at the home. I had to make sure that the little ones were fed before I was." And then, in that moment, everything changed. Just like Starla had broken through his barriers, so did Candi. He took her in, and took care of her. He began to think of her as his daughter, and in return she affectionately dubbed him "Daddy". They had a peaceful life for four years, no one knowing about her existence, even Pepper.

And then shit happened.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
"You'll be back for my recital, won't you daddy?" They sat alone in his lab, the only sound being the sound of sparks as he worked in his natural element. Candi sat on the couch he frequently used as a place to sleep, a notebook in her lap and a pencil in her left hand. She was choreographing a dance for her next recital, four months later. She had turned out to be exceptionally good at dance, and had risen to the top of her class soon after he had placed her there.

"Of course, baby. I wouldn't miss it for the world." He held onto that memory for three months, just thinking of those purple eyes and bright smile. Her birthday had passed while he was gone, and he had promised himself to buy her whatever she wanted if he got back. When he got back.

A month after a lengthy battle with a man he had once trusted, and a botched press conference, Tony Stark was strutting into her school's auditorium, disguise in place. A pair of tee shirt and jeans, and dark sunglasses hid his identity, and let him watch his daughter in peace.

She flew through the air with grace and confidence, her emotions pouring through her actions. The last song she performed was an older one, from the 30's. It was swing, and she had paired up with a boy from her dance class to perform it.

She was all smiles and twirling skirts, but all Tony could focus on was the fact that a *boy* had his *hands* on his *baby*. He silently fumed for the rest of the concert, but he smiled at her and hugged her when she came bounding out from the back with her dance clothes in her bag, slung over her shoulder.

"Did you like it, Daddy?" He nodded and kissed her cheeks, loving the sound of her giggle. He had always silently wondered why his daughter seemed so innocent for her age, but he selfishly ignored it and enjoyed how affectionate she was with him.

"Of course baby. You were amazing. I'm so pro-" He was cut off by the hard look on Candi's face when she looked over his shoulder. He turned around to see another girl from the recital behind him. She sneered at his girl and he didn't know how to react. She stepped around him, jabbing a finger in her chest.

"Let me tell you something, Shorty. Just because you got the lead in the dance and got three solos doesn't mean shit. You're still ugly, you're still fat, and you're still useless." He was appalled by what she was saying, but before he could respond his daughter did.

"I couldn't tell, from the way your boyfriend had his hands all over me, Stephanie." She smirked at the girl, spitting out her name. The girl scowled and slapped her, leaving a red mark on her dark skin.

"What are you gonna do, huh? Nothing, that's what. Why? Because you're so busy playing the perfect kid that you can't defend yourself. You didn't do shit when I kicked your ass two months ago, and you won't do anything now."

At that, something in Candi snapped. She slammed her bag on the floor and put her hands up in front of her.

"You know what? Fuck it. I'm gonna kick your ass into the next millennium." The next five minutes was a blur of hair and curses, until Candi ended up on top of Stephanie with her hands around her neck. Tony then pulled her off of the girl, and lugged her to the car, Candi kicking and screaming the entire way about "kicking that bitch's ass".

In the car, Tony stared at her, wondering what to say. She gazed straight ahead, he posture relaxed, as if she was expecting this. And in a way, she had. She had been hiding from him for so long, she should have known it would have blown up in her face.

"I don't know whether to be upset that you've been lying to me about your personality, upset about the fact that you've been getting bullied for quite some time now and didn't tell me, upset that that *thing* was touching you like that during that dance, or proud that you finally stood up for yourself." She stared straight ahead, not responding for awhile. When she did, she quoted Starla all of those years ago.

"Have you ever hidden a part of yourself from the world? Have you ever had to lie to save your life, to save your freedom?" He tightened his fists around the steering wheel.

"Why would you need to hide? I'm your dad. I'm always going to be in your corner."

"I'm not human, dad."

"I still love you." The amount of relief rolling off of her was tangible, and he grabbed her hand with his free one. They rode in silence for a while, before he spoke again.

"...I still don't like that boy touching you like that."

"Dad!"

The universe had only given them five months of peace before danger struck again. This time it was in the form of a revenge driven man who was too smart for his own good, and a government too greedy to see the danger. Both had been defeated, and Tony had tried to keep Candi as unaware as possible. Of course, being his daughter, she found out anyway.

"You're a fucking shit head, you know that?" He had grown used to her mouth by now, just surprised by her appearance in his lab. He had just gotten back from his meeting with Fury, still reeling from the magnitude of the Avengers Initiative.

"I love you too, my lovely daughter."

"Fuck your love! How dare you not tell me you were dying?" She slammed her hands down on the table in front of them, her super strength getting the best of her and breaking it. She stepped over it and crossed her arms over her chest.

"How did you find out?" He reached out to her but she leaned away, just like she did when they first met.

"I hacked SHIELD's files." Even though she wasn't a scientific man like him, she had still picked up a few tricks. She turned out to be an insanely good hacker, but she didn't abuse her power.

"I'm sorry baby." For a second she just stared a him, and then she ran into her dad's arms and cried.

"I'm scared, Daddy. Please don't leave me." Her anger deflated out of her, and all that was left was desperation and sadness. He never truly saw the affects of what his absence had done to her.

"Don't be baby, I'm right here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
The next morning, after a very, very, very long talk, they moved to his tower in New York.

"Are you sure sweetie? You won't miss your friends or anything baby?" Candi responded by laughing hysterically, before stopping abruptly and staring at him.

"No." He shrugged, and moved on, because he had long grown used to her strange behavior. She was strange and quirky, sometimes innocent and sometimes completely evil. She was his non-human daughter and his baby girl. He would do anything for her.

Seeing Candi's face was on par with the look she gave when he said she could call him "Daddy", when she perfected her back handspring, or when he said that he was proud of her after she showed him her super strength. It was a look of pure joy, and it made him feel amazing to see that look on her face.

"Alright, so you get two floors. One for your dance studio, and another as just your floor, okay? We'll talk to the school in the morning." Before he could even finish his sentence, she had already run off screaming "thank you's" and "I love you's" over her shoulder. He smiled, and walked down to the lab, needing to get his manliness back.

The next couple of days were a systematic blur of online furniture stores, paint swatches, meetings with Pepper, dodging meetings with the board, and spending time with his little girl. In New York she truly found herself, she made friends at school almost immediately, and the school she went to was a music and arts centered school, so she blossomed there as well. He bought her a dorm on campus as well, worried that she might need to stay there one day, not wanting to explain her existence to anyone, not trusting them.

It only took three days before she needed it.

Not before, of course, Coulson figured out what others didn't hadn't been able to for four and a half years.

"Sir, Agent Coulson is on the line." JARVIS interrupted their celebration, irritating Tony greatly. He had just set up the arc reactor to power the building, and he and Candi were dancing around together, giggling like fools at the company's success-their success. She was the one who had suggested the idea, actually. He just brought it into fruition.

"Tell him to leave a message." He continued spinning around with his daughter, insanely happy.

"I believe that it's urgent." Tony rolled his eyes and stopped dancing.

"Then tell him to leave it urgently."

"Sir- my codes. They're being over ridden-" Coulson appeared in the door of the elevator, surprising both of them.

"Stark we - oh hello there." In a second's notice Phil transformed from a badass SHIELD agent to a big softie at the sight of Candi. She smiled sweetly at him and stepped forward to shake his hand. "Candi Jackson Stark, at your service." Phil glanced at Tony, but then smiled at Candi.

"Phil Coulson." They shook hands, and then Candi stared at him.

"Are you here to take my daddy away?"

"Well, no-"

"Because I know about the Avenger's Initiative, and that sounds like a really dangerous plan seeing as none of them have even been in the same room together, let alone even talked to each other. One of your teammates was compromised as well, that just adds an entire new layer of fuckery." Coulson raised his eyebrow at the girl, and then looked at Stark.

"What part about 'confidentiality agreement' don't you understand?" Tony just shrugged.

"Oh don't worry. Most of that I hacked from your servers the moment he came back from his meeting with Fury. Every time something massive happens, I know." She took the files from his hands handed them to Tony. He spread them out in the air, and they both stared at them.

"Code X."

"My bag's already packed."

Unbeknownst to Tony, Candi was again hiding something from him. She had more powers than he thought, and they were much more complicated than either one of them could have dreamed. She sat in her dorm with her friends, Kyle and Lanie. Kyle was there on an art scholar ship, his specialty was paint. He could create anything with a brush, but he was also extremely talented at sketching as well.

Lanie was there on a music scholarship, in guitar. Her talent on guitar surpassed all of those before her, and yet she was so humble about it. All three of them sat in the rec room alone, the quiet sounds of strings plucking, pencils scratching, and feet pattering filling the air.

"Guys, do you ever feel...powerful?" They both looked up at her confused.

"What do you mean?" She walked over to Lanie.

"Lanie, for example, when you play guitar, do you feel like there's this pent up energy inside of you? Like, more than just music?" She frowned.

"A little bit, yeah." She then walked over to Kyle.

"And do you feel like that when you sketch or paint." He nodded. She bit her lip.

"Guys, I feel the same way." And in that moment, something happened. Just like with Tony and Starla, they found themselves within each other.

"Should we, I don't know, try to channel it somehow?" Kyle shrugged.

"I'll try it." He quickly sketched a picture of a puppy, and stared at it.

"I feel that power but, what do I do with it?" Candi tried to talk him through it.

"Put your hand on the paper." He did. "Close your eyes and pretend like there's a pipe running from your brain to your fingertips. Channel the energy through there." He did as he wad told, and the girls watched in fascination as a red light slowly moved from his shoulder to his to fingers, before disappearing into the paper. The puppy slowly wriggled to life, and jumped off of the paper onto him. He opened his eyes, and saw the cartoonish dog on his chest and laughed.

"This is amazing!" They continued like that for the rest of the days they were together, discovering each other's powers. When Tony called her back to the Tower, he saw a light in her eyes that he hadn't seen before. Her amethyst eyes shined bright, and her laugh was fuller than before. After loosing Phil, and seeing the man his father had tried to push him to become, she was just what he needed to lift his mood.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
Two months after the Battle of New York, as the news outlets dubbed it, the tower had been rebuilt and Tony and Candi had been living in it comfortably now. Kyle and Lanie lived in the tower now, seeing as they were both orphans. He didn't adopt them, he just became a "foster home". Candi had begged and pleaded, and Tony had caved like always. Now, all three of them lived on the same floor, Lanie and Candi sharing a room and Kyle having his own. They were all so mature for their age, but at the same time so playful and carefree. It made Tony happy to see that she finally had friends.

"Sir, it seems as though the entire team is coming up to your floor in Elevator 3." It was just Candi and Tony on that floor, seeing as Kyle and Lanie were both at the school for something. They were dancing together again, just for the heck of it. At heart, Tony Stark was truly a family man, but only the kids knew. Tony ignored JARVIS' voice, and kept dancing with his daughter. The door pinged open, and Candi, who saw them over his shoulder, stopped dancing. He turned around and smiled at them, almost relieved that he didn't have to lie.

"Hey guys." He awkwardly shifted, not sure what to do in this situation. Luckily, Candi had inherited his suave charm and disarming smile, even though they weren't biologically related, so she took over the situation.

"Candi Jackson Stark, at your service." She stepped in front of the dear Captain himself, and her hand outstretched. He took it gingerly, hesitating to shake it. He saw her as fragile, she could tell, and it stung her.

"Uh, Stark? Why is there a kid in your living room? And why does she have the same last name as you yet look nothing like you?" Hawkeye raised his hand slightly, like a befuddled school boy who wasn't sure if he was asking the right question.

"She's my daughter, that's why." Candi walked over to him and stuck her hand out to him too, her face completely smooth.

"Hi, my name is Candi. I'm 13 years old, and Aquarius, and my turn-ons are long walks on the beach and pissing off my dad." It was silent for a second before they both cracked smiles and Candi giggled slightly.

"Oh yeah," he said, "I like her." He pulled the girl in for a hug and she happily obliged. After a second they let go, and them small girl faced her father.

"So, Dad, can they stay?" Their eyes met, brown on purple, and she smiled at him, the smile she reserved only for him. He felt his resolve break, and he nodded. She squealed and hugged him before running off to her room, something about calling Lanie.

After she left the atmosphere turned awkward, and he shifted side to side.

"So...yeah."


	2. Chapter 2

Candi flung herself onto the couch, burying her face in a mass of curls and cushions. "I hate this," she groaned. Kyle raised an eyebrow from his curious perch at the top of the couch next to her, sketchbook in hand.

"Hate what?" She rolled herself onto the floor in that dramatically graceful way she always seemed to do things. She didn't respond for a while, and Kyle went back to his drawings.

"This! Everything. None of my dad's coworkers will fucking talk to me!" Even though her name was Candi, and she was as cute as a button, she could still cuss like a sailor.

Kyle snorted. "_Coworkers_? Did you just dub the Avengers, the most powerful people on the planet, you dad's coworkers?" She only flipped him off from her position on the floor, and he laughed in response.

Lanie soon walked in, hearing Kyle all the way across the floor.

They all had advanced senses, after confiding to each other about their past experiences. It was comforting, really, to know that you weren't the only one who could hear the girl throwing up in the bathroom all the way in math class.

"What's Kyle being a dick about now?" She asked as she walked in, a pile of sheet music in her hand. People always assumed that, him being the artist out of the group, that he was the most comforting, and the most kind. That was complete bullshit. Kyle was a jerk most of the time, and there was no way around it. Especially when he got with his friend Peter, who worked at the same newspaper that he did.

"When _aren't _I being a dick?" He was also very much self aware of his personality problems.

"True."

"The Avengers aren't talking to me and it's driving me insane." Lanie sat down next to Candi, crossing her legs. Candi immediately put her head in Lanie's lap. The other girl threaded her long, spindly fingers in Candi's hair, playing with the curls. It was a normal ritual, Candi feeling a deep bond with the girl. If she didn't know any better, she would think they were sisters.

"How have you tried to talk to them?"

"Well, I'll pass one of them in the hallway and say hi but none of them will even speak back! It's so annoying. That's not the only thing, but it's just little shit like that that's driving me up the wall."

Lanie bit at her lip a bit, a trait that presented itself when she was thinking. After a while, she spoke again. "How about you divide and conquer?"

Candi, confused, turned her head to look up. "Huh?"

"Well, I mean, yeah you've been saying hi to them and all that, but how about you approach them in their comfort zones? They'll be all relaxed and shit, the perfect time to make friends." Kyle elaborated, understanding what she meant.

Candi's brow furrowed, thinking. "That's a great idea, guys! But, who do I start out with?"

It turns out, the answer was Steve. He was large, twice the size of her, and he had a heart to match. He was an enigma, though, his personality vague under the guise of Captain America. Once you took that off, who was he?

* * *

Steve's back and chest were drenched in sweat, uncomfortably so, as he pounded at the thick, sand filled bag. He punched harder and faster, trying to drown out the sound of Red Skull's voice and the sound of Bucky's laugh and Peggy asking for that dance-

His racing thoughts were cut off by the sound of the bag smashing to the floor, sand spilling everywhere. He scrubbed a tired hand over his face, and walked over to the corner of the gym to get another.

"Care for a fight?" He turned, startled, and came face to face with Stark's daughter. She didn't look like him, not at all, with her caramel skin and big, curly hair, but they were similar in personality in every which way. She was tiny, coming up only to the bottom of his chest, hair included. He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Ma'am, you probably couldn't put up much of a fight, even if you wanted to." She smirked at this, walking over to the boxing ring at the center of the gym. "Care to test that theory out?"

* * *

Clint was joker at his core. Growing up in a circus, the hardships of not living a normal life had forced him to come up with a way to compartmentalize the feelings of loneliness, worry, and fear he constantly had. He was always up for a good prank, and a good time.

So, when one day he was in the shooting range with his bow, and _suddenly_, the arrow he shot disappeared into a purple haze right before it hit his target, he was more surprised than fearful.

A paper plane floated down to him, landing gently in his outstretched hand.

_Care for a game? _It read.

He smirked, always up for a game.

* * *

"You're not dangerous, you know." The good doctor jumped slightly, the slide he was examining falling out of his hand. The curly hair girl caught it, and handed it back to him.

"Nice reflexes," he noted. He pushed his hair out of his face with a shaky hand, nervous around the small girl. He was one of the shortest on the team, yet she still wasn't anywhere close to his height.

She smiled slightly, and looked up at him with round eyes.

"Purple," he blurted. She furrowed her eyebrows, looking confused and lost.

"Excuse me?" He blushed slightly, but explained.

"Your eyes, they're purple. Are those contacts?"

"No, contacts dissolve in my eyes. I tried to get colored contacts to cover them up, but they only lasted for thirty minutes before they succumbed to whatever is in my eyes." The scientist in him lit up, and a smile graced upon his face.

"Can I run some tests on you? Just from listening, it sounds like the molecular structure of the saline in your eyes isn't the only thing that's different about you. Your blood seems to be different as well."

This was the first time she saw him smile, and she had to admit, happiness suited him well.

She laughed and stuck out her arm. "Do whatever you need to, Doc."

* * *

To be honest, she was terrified of the Black Widow. A chill in her bones ran through her every time she thought about the woman, and knots formed in her stomach.

The Widow was scary.

So when Candi saw her sitting on the couch in the common room reading a book, she squeaked and ran back around the corner.

A quiet sigh came from the direction of the woman, and her book snapped shut, placed on the table in front of her.

"Get in here, I know you're there." Guilty, Candi slowly walked towards the woman, her heart beating rapidly in her chest. The bottoms of her fingertips were slowly turning purple, a natural reaction when she was scared, but she forced herself to reverse the process. Still though, all of the magic in her body was on alert mode, ready to defend herself if necessary.

"You're afraid of me." Candi blushed, her cheeks taking on a purple hue, and babbled, trying to defend herself.

"I mean, you're so-no! I'm not, maybe a little-"

"So that's a yes." She blushed harder, feeling a bit ashamed.

The Widow paused for a moment, thinking. "Sit down." Candi quickly obliged, sitting in the arm chair next to the couch.

"You remind me of myself, at that age."

"I thought you were in the Red Room, at my age." Candi sometimes spoke without thinking, and sometimes she revealed that she knew things that she wasn't supposed to.

"How do you know that?" The woman leaned back, seeming relaxed in her loose stance. But Candi could smell the crisp stench of metal emitting from her pocket, the direction her hand seemed to be drifting towards.

"I've studied your fighting and I've also studied the graduates of the Red Room's style. Yours has a distinct Russian style to it. And you and I both know that that blade won't do anything."

Her hand curled into a tight fist before relaxing again, laying itself on her thigh, away from the blade.

"Yes, you remind me almost exactly of myself."

"Is that a good thing?"

The woman stared at the girl for a second, her false bravado, her rigid posture, and her strong will.

"It can be."

* * *

Tony soon stumbled out of the workshop after 96 hours, 10 of which were spent asleep on the lumpy couch Candi forced him to buy, knowing his habit of shutting himself out to the world.

"You're an irresponsible father." Tony was blindsided by the sudden appearance of Natasha in front of him.

"Excuse me? I've taken care of-"

"You left her to her own devices for 4 days-"

"I've left her alone longer before-"

"You know, as amusing as this is, it's okay. You can get off of his case, Natasha." Candi appeared and rested a hand on the woman's shoulder, causing her to pausing in her interrogation.

"You're lucky your daughter is much less annoying than you are." She stalked off, her red hair swishing behind her.

He turned to face Candi, who had a soft smile on her face. "Have you turned all of them against me in just four days?"

She smiled and shrugged. "Wasn't that hard."

* * *

The Avengers had gone six weeks without a massive call to action, the summer heat seeming to beat back the villains who actually wanted to take over, and not just the small missions that only required one or two of them to come in.

But when they did get a call, it was gruesome.

Hydra was back.

* * *

Steve had always been considered a pillar of strength among the team, strong and never breaking.

But when he heard that Hydra was back, he could feel the ice covering his skin and the water seeping into his uniform and-

He woke up several hours later in a dark room, with the curtains drawn. When he pulled them back, he was met with an awful sight.

* * *

Realistically, everyone could already tell that this mission would be a tizzy, the absence of their good Captain making everyone nervous, even the pair of assassins. He was the only one with the most knowledge of Hydra, yet he was the only one gone. They were going in blind, only knowing that they were going up against about one thousand foot soldiers, four tanks, and 3 helicopters with rpg's mounted to them. They didn't know what weapons the soldiers had, or what they were planning to do. All they knew is that an army had just stormed Manhattan, and that they were tasked with saving it.

* * *

"We need to help them." Candi was standing next to the floor to ceiling windows in her room, Lanie and Kyle sitting on the floor and the bed, watching her.

"We can't reveal ourselves-"

"But we can't let them get killed! You see that army out there, there's only four of them."

"What happened to the Captain?"

"He collapsed. He had a panic attack, so they ruled him a liability in the field, and put him somewhere else."

Lanie sighed, knowing what they had to do.

"I always wondered if we would ever use those stupid uniforms you got us. I guess we have to, huh?"

* * *

They were outnumbered. They were beyond outnumbered, the amount of people they saw scaring even the Widow. They were down two members, and even though they had the Hulk, their prospects were slim.

"Hello, boys and girls!" They turned away from the approaching soldiers to view the arrival of three teenagers. One girl had pale purple kin, the other had green skin, and the only boy had red skin.

They all immediately went to fighting stances, Banner's skin taking a green hue. "Who are you," demanded the Widow. The purple girl laughed, seeming to be the leader.

"Relax, relax! We are friends, not foe. We are here to help; we have noticed your predicament and decided to lend a hand. I am Lavender, and this is Sage," she pointed to the green girl, "and Rose," as she pointed to the boy.

Clint snorted. "Rose? That's not a very manly name-"He was cut off by a knife to his throat, a red hand holding it.

"You mess with the Rose; you get the thorns, Hawkeye." Lavender said this with a smile on her face, but her voice was sharp and her posture rigid.

Hawkeye nodded slowly, realizing that these people were much more dangerous than they seemed.

Lavender's voice then dropped lower, taking on a more commanding pitch. "Rose, you work on creating soldiers to combat the ones you see here, with different types of weapons just in case. Enchant some of them to resupply, if need be. Also, create tanks and such to combat theirs.

"Sage, get to the top of a building close to the army and bust out your guitar. Try a Sleeper Hold, and if that doesn't work, try a Berserker. Either one should work. You guys got your coms on, right?" They both nodded, and leapt into action. Sage ran up to a building and started to quickly climb up it, while Rose pulled out an easel and a charcoal pencil and started to draw. His arm started to glow red, and as he drew, the soldiers that Lavender was talking about slowly coming to life, jumping off of the page, their voices the sounds of pencils scratching. They started to charge the enemy soldiers, reproducing themselves in droves.

The Avengers looked in fascination, confused and awed. "What do you want us to do?"

Lavender seemed surprised they wanted her to lead them, but she quickly regained her balance. "I need you guys to start evacuating the civilians. They're in danger, but we don't know how much right now. Honestly I don't want to find out, either." All of them nodded and started to evacuate everyone.

* * *

It was a few hours later, and the army had been all but cleared. SHIELD soon came in to take in all of the soldiers for questioning, and all of citizens had been successfully evacuated. Lavender sat perched on the edge of a roof. She was about to jump down when she heard a quiet shuffling behind her, causing her to jump down, her hands glowing purple. "Who's there?"

A girl her age stepped out of the shadows, dressed in all black, a black mask on her face, and her right arm made of metal, a whip crackling with electricity encased the silver hand.

"Who the hell are you?" The girl, green eyes seeming familiar, opened her mouth to talk.

"I am Lady Solstice." She didn't seem up for talking, cracking her wrist towards Lavender, causing the whip to lash her in the chest. It singed the thick fabric, but didn't cut it. Lavender still felt the sting, and got angry.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" Lavender sent out a blast of purple energy towards Lady Solstice, and this seemed to surprise her.

"You are a stronger opponent than I anticipated." Before Lavender could respond, Lady Solstice rushed forward and pushed her off of the ledge, catching her off guard. A petrified scream followed her down.

* * *

Everyone looked up as Lavender shot down the side of the building. Before any of them could react, she landed, creating a crater in the concrete of the abandoned street.

"Oh fuck this!" She stood up, covered in dust and dirt. Her shirt was ripped, her stomach peaking through.

"What the hell is going on?" Rose ran forward, and helped her out of the crater.

"Shit, that's what." She turned her body towards the top of the roof, and yelled.

"Hey Lady Whatever-Your-Name-Is, I'm not dead, damnit!" She ran to the middle of the street, away from the rest of them. Neither Rose or Sage followed her, so neither did the Avengers.

Soon, a loud thump alerted them to the arrival of a girl dressed in all black, and from the look on Lavender's face, it was who pushed her off of the roof. A whip crackled in her hand, and her masked face seemed menacing.

She flicked the whip forward, and Lavender dodged it, light on her feet. She got closer, ducking the whip over and over, knowing that it was useless at close range. Soon she got close enough to land a hit, and she tornado kicked the girl in the face, knocking off her mask. She froze though, and felt her fists fall to her sides limply.

"_Annabelle?_"

She was promptly punched in the face by a metal hand.

* * *

Steve slid down the wall, shock running through his frame.

"Sir would you like me to-"

"JARVIS, just don't, son."

* * *

"Annabelle? _That_ Annabelle?"

"Candi, you're insane-"

"_Candi?!"_ The purple skinned girl turned brown, and took the tinted glasses off of her eyes.

"Sorry, Dad."

"You're damn right you're sorry! Get your ass over-"

"No can do. Nice try, though." She shot forward, propelling herself forward by a burst of purple energy flowing through her, picking up Annabelle and flying away.

Bruce shook his head, and turned to Lanie and Kyle, confused. "Who are you guys?"

"They're kids who live in the Tower that are about to get into a whole bunch of trouble."

"Aw, c'mon Tony, lighten up a bit-"

"Lighten up? Really? You guys let my daughter-"

"You know damn well that we have no control over-"

"Alright, I think that it's high time that all calmed down," interjected Natasha. She then turned to the kids. "I think it's fair that we get answers from you guys, don't you think?" The kids nodded. "Alright, first things first, who is that girl that Candi's fighting?"

Both of the children looked nervous until Kyle nudged Lanie forward, the taller girl sighing. "Annabelle…she and Candi were friends before Tony even adopted her. They were the best of friends, because Annabelle was different, just like Candi.

"But Candi fell in love with Annabelle-"

"I adopted Candi when she was nine, you both know that. How in the world would someone younger than that fall in love?" Lanie sighed and answered Tony's question.

"By her eighth birthday, Candi had reached peak emotional maturity. The way she acts with you? That's an act. She acts a helluva lot more innocent around you, because she knows how much you enjoy watching her grow up. But she hasn't been growing up since then. She's just gotten bigger. Honestly, she's mentally an adult.

"Anyway, she fell in love with Annabelle, and Annabelle fell in love with Candi. But Annabelle's dad was extremely abusive, and knew that Annabelle was a mutant-"

"What the hell is a-"

"Tony shut up." Natasha fixed him with a glare, and he quieted down.

"He knew that Annabelle could turn invisible, and he hated her for it. So one day, while Candi and Annabelle were at a school function, he came in, drunk out of his mind. He had a gun in his hand, and he was looking for Annabelle. She turned herself over so he would hurt everyone and he forced her to reveal to everyone what she was-"

"A freak?"

"Shut the hell up, Tony!" Kyle turned to the man, tears in his eyes. Everyone was silent.

"Continue, please," came the soft utter from Clint, one of the first words he had spoken all day. He looked at Kyle and nodded, understand the boy on a level that no one else did.

"He was going to shoot her, but she started to get away. He shot her in the ankle and-"Lanie cut herself off, and looked away.

"What? What happened?"

"Candi killed him. She was so angry; she described it as 'losing complete control'. She bashed his head in until there wasn't really anything to punch anymore."

Everyone was in shock, except for the two kids.

"And then Candi moved, presumably to Tony's house."

* * *

Annabelle threw her off of her onto the roof of a low building, landing next to her. She punched at the girl but Candi grabbed her arm and pulled it back behind the other girl. "You know, when we were kids, Annie, you were never this feisty."

"Who the hell is Annie? I am Lady Solstice, I am a mindless killing machine," the girl recited. Candi grew angry and shoved the girl into a nearby wall.

"That is something that I will never, _ever_ believe. You were _never_ mindless, and you never will be." She got thrown back, and Annabelle walked over to her.

"Annie, you need to come back to me." She got slapped across the face again, the girl's face angry.

"Stop calling me Annie!" The girl was growing more and more unstable, grabbing at her red hair and shaking it back and forth. Candi saw that she was getting through whatever mind control she was under, and tried harder.

"Do you remember that time you refused to watch Doctor Who until the season went off, and then we stayed up 36 hours watching almost two seasons straight of your box set?" Annabelle threw Candi through a wall, screaming at her.

"Who are you?! What are you doing to me?!"

"Remember when my mom painted you to look like tree, and you jumped out and scared people that entire weekend. It took-"

"Stop!" Annabelle threw her off of the building at this point, causing her to land with a large thud.

* * *

The silence was broken by the broken pants of Steve running up to them.

"Steve! What are you-"

_**THUD**_

"What the hell was that?" They looked over to see Candi on the ground again, Annabelle jumping after her.

"I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

Candi landed on her back, causing a crater in the ground again. Annabelle jumped after her, straddling her stomach. She started to punch at Candi, but the other girl only held up her hands to block the punches so she could continue speaking.

"Remember you last words to me? You said **'**allez-vous rester mon monstre mariée', remember that? I searched up what that meant. The answer is yes. The answer will always be yes."

Annabelle's face grew red with anger, almost matching the burning shade of her hair. "Stop talking!" She wrapped her hands around Candi's neck, and pressed.

* * *

"Sir, my sensors indicate that Madam is losing oxygen to her brain. I believe that she is being choked."

"Fuck this, I'm going after her." Tony fired up the thrusters, but two shots of red energy overloaded them.

"The hell you are. Candi needs to deal with this on her own."

* * *

"Stop talking!" Candi soon had to choke out her words.

"R-remember when you said th-that I was yours? Does th-that still ap-ply?"

"Yes-I mean, shut up!" Annabelle's eyes were glazed over now, her internal battle taking over.

Candi could feel more than see the blackness seeping into her vision, and smiled at Annabelle. She lifted up a weak arm, and stroked Annabelle's face.

"I l-love you. I alw-ways have. N-no matter what." Her arm limply dropped, and her eyes closed.

Just then, the Lady Solstice had lost to Annabelle, and the girl had realized what she had done.

"Candi?" She cradled the girl in her arms, and started to cry.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!"

* * *

"You can you after her now, y'know." Tony lifted his head up, but he knew he'd be useless. He still had probably five minutes before the thrusters came on, and his heart wouldn't appreciate him running 5 blocks. He looked to his right. "Hey Steve?"

The soldier nodded. "On it." He shot forward, leaping over rubble and overturned cars.

* * *

Annabelle had never cried so hard in her life.

* * *

Steve soon reached the girls, and saw brokenness in Annabelle that caused him to pause.

"Arrest me, do whatever you need to. Just bring her back, please!" Her voice broke on the last syllable, and so did his heart.

He tried to touch Candi, but he could, his hand burnt by a light purple film the covered her entire body. Annabelle seemed unaffected by the film, but he didn't say anything.

"I don't really understand magic that well, but if you bring her over there-"he was cut off by the girl speeding off at an alarming rate with Candi in her arms. He set off after them, astounded.

* * *

The girl ran towards them, Candi in her arms. She set her down gently, but before she could say anything, Widow had her in a choke hold with a knife pressed to her neck.

"Who are you and what to you want?" Annabelle gulped before answering.

"My name is Annabelle and I love this girl with all of my heart."


	3. Chapter 3

They went back to the tower, awkward and uncomfortable. After Annabelle ran up to them, Tony had to be restrained, his anger clouding his normally rational mind.

* * *

"Love her? You fucking love her? You tried strangling her to death just two minutes ago!"

She tried pleading her case. "But that wasn't me-"

"Wasn't you? Then who the hell was it that was on top of her with their arms around her neck? Huh? _The Boogeyman_? Explain to me who the hell it was that was trying to _kill my baby_?" In that moment, with Tony's chest heaving like it was, his reactor glowing brighter than normal to keep up with the force of his pounding heart, Tony showed them just how much he loved his daughter. He had just found out that she had been lying to him about almost everything, yet he still had no problem defending her.

* * *

Annabelle, on the other hand, was completely and irrevocably in love with Candi. In some cases, like this one, that was tantamount to stupidity.

She realized, as she stared down this volatile man, that she, in all of her smarts and ingenuity, that she was stupid for Candi.

* * *

He could feel a disturbance in his mind, even in his barren cell so many worlds away. One of his children, his pride and joy of life, was hurt. He investigated the feeling further, realizing that it was one of his mortal children. Strong, they were yes, and they could live for hundreds of years, but they could still die. And that scared him more than he wanted to let on.

The All Father put a seal on his magic, but he was still strong enough to pierce a small hole in the seal, to let magic leak through in case of an emergency. This qualified as an emergency, if he had ever seen one.

He closed his eyes for a second, and felt his magic course through him.

"Hold on Candi-cane, Daddy's coming."

* * *

"That was Lady Solstice that-"

"_You're Lady Solstice_-"

"No I'm not-"Tony cut her off with a step forward. There was a fire in his eyes, and she realized just how dangerous this man was.

"You have ten seconds before I turn this gauntlet on you and _it won't be pretty_."

Steve stepped forward. "Come on Tony, she's just a kid. Same age as Candi." Tony slowly turned to face Steve, his normally smirking face cold and hard.

"I have no qualms about hurting people that hurt my daughter."

* * *

After calming Tony down, they brought Annabelle and Candi back to the Tower, keeping Tony far, far away from the girl who hurt his daughter. But that also meant he had to be kept away from Candi, seeing as she was the only person that was able to touch her without feeling the burn of the film on her body. She sat in the Quinjet, huddled in the corner with Candi limp in her arms. She had started to cry again, feeling guilty.

"I'm so sorry, oh my god please forgive me!"

* * *

Hiemdall, bless his heart, said nothing when suddenly he felt one less being in the cells of Asgard.

Silence.

* * *

When they got back to the Tower, Tony immediately commissioned Bruce to start running tests on Candi, to see what was wrong with her, why the film was over her body. Widow and Clint took Annabelle into a different room for questioning, eventually having to literally drag her away kicking and screaming because she didn't want to part from Candi.

"What is your name?"

"Annabelle."

"Annabelle what?" The girl opened her mouth to answer, but then furrowed her eyebrows.

"What's wrong?"

"I…I don't remember…" Clint and Natasha shared a look, before returning to their questioning.

"How long have you been with Hydra?"

"A few months, I think." Natasha fixed her with a hard glare, and the girl shifted in her seat.

"You think?" Annabelle nodded, unsure of herself.

"Yeah, it's still 2008, right?"

* * *

"Bruce, what's going on with her?" Tony was pacing up and down Bruce's lab, anxious and worried about his daughter.

"I don't know, she seems to be…protecting herself." Tony stopped, and ran up next to him.

"From what? Us?" The scientist shrugged and rubbed his tired eyes.

"From harm, really. It also seems that she's healing herself too; all of her bruises and cuts are gone. I guess she's just shut down and started to heal herself, and the casing is just making sure that while she's in this state nothing can hurt her."

"The good doctor is correct." Bruce and Tony swirled around to face the third voice that had spoken, surprised and angered by the person they saw.

"Loki!"

* * *

A table was smashed against a wall, the shards scattering all over the floor. "Where is she?!" A voice growled, heavy and commanding.

"I don't know sir, we just sent her in for a simple mission, it didn't-"

"Damnit Johnson! You've fucked me over for the last time! Bring him in." Johnson's eyes widened in terror.

"But sir-"

"Bring me the Winter Soldier."

* * *

Natasha and Clint didn't know how to proceed, which didn't happen frequently, in their line of work. Uncertainty meant death.

But this girl, she was different than their usual foe.

"No, it's 2012." The girl's eyes widened, and she leaned back in her chair.

"Wow," she breathed out, running a hand over her face. "I've been out of it for 4 years? I'm what-almost 14 now?"

"What do you mean by 'out of it'?" Natasha was quickly realizing that there was something else to this equation than was bigger than her, bigger than all of them.

"I mean, the last thing I remember is them bringing me into a room, sitting me down, and putting this-this thing on my head, and then I woke up like an hour ago."

Clint glanced at Natasha, both of them thinking on the same terms.

_Mind control._

* * *

"What the hell are you doing here? Who let you out of jail? Does Thor know that you're here?" Tony fired question after question at the god, slowly walking over to one of the lab tables. He quickly grabbed a scalpel in his hand, and hid it behind his back.

"I'm coming to make sure that my daughter is okay. And no one let me out, I escaped. I doubt he knows that I'm here now, but he will soon enough. And please, Stark, you and I both know that flimsy Midgardian weapon will have no effect on me." A blast of green energy left his fingers, and the scalpel that was hidden behind Tony's back clattered to the ground. Tony scowled.

"Your daughter? Isn't that an eight legged horse or something?" Loki glared at Tony, annoyed with his snark.

"Sleipnir is a boy, thank you. And no, I mean Candi." Tony burst out laughing, not believing him. Loki rolled his eyes, and walked through him, to stand next to Candi. Tony stopped laughing, partly pissed and partly scared of what he was about to do. He passed his hand through the barrier than surrounded her to rest it gently on her forehead, and started to murmur to her softly.

"_Vakna, elskan mín. Þú ert öruggur nú, með krafti hjarta mínu._" Candi slowly opened her eyes, staring up at Loki. Tony tried to rush forward, but was blocked by Bruce.

"Why are you stopping me? He's-" The curly haired man shushed him, and pointed to the scene in front of them.

"Do you remember me?" Loki was quiet, gentle. The complete opposite of how he was with them.

Fatherly.

Candi paused, and then nodded. Anger quickly passed over her features and she stood up, purple fire in her hands. "You left us!"

"Not by my choice-"

"Mom said you were powerful! She said you could do anything if you put your mind to it!"

"I wanted to keep you safe-"

"Safe from what?! You tried to take over the Earth a few weeks ago!"

"I did it to protect you-"

"From what?!" Candi was walking closer now, the fire in her hands getting bigger. Tears were filling in her eyes now, shining in the light of her magic.

"I can't tell you." Loki fell to his knees, defeated. Her hands fell limply to her sides, and she fell to her knees in front of him, freely crying now.

"Why did you leave us? She missed you. _I_ missed you."Candi wrapped her arms around herself, like she was trying to hold herself together. Tony looked on, horrified, not knowing that Candi had so many pent up emotions.

"I never stopped loving you." Candi started to cry harder, and he wrapped his arms around her, letting her cry on his shoulder.

"But why did you have to love me from afar? I was bullied, just like you! Someone killed Caroline! They killed her and my magic wasn't strong enough to save her. You missed so much." She clutched at him harder, never wanting him to leave again.

He said nothing, stroking her hair and letting her cry.

* * *

"Do you remember who she is?" The Soldier nodded, at military rest.

"Bring back Lady Solstice at all costs. She is a valuable asset, do you hear me? _At all costs._"

* * *

"It's almost as if she lost four years of her life." Clint and Natasha had stepped out into the hall now, thinking about what they had observed of Annabelle.

"Well, she seems pretty mature for someone who claims to have lost four years." Natasha rolled a spare bullet through her fingers, running over the day through her mind.

So much learned. So little gained.

"True, but I honestly think that Annabelle had that same freaky maturity thing going on that Candi did. That's probably why they bonded so well." She scowled and dropped the bullet on the ground, turning on her heel to walk back into the room. Clint put a hand on her shoulder, stopping her.

"Hey, what's up?" She shrugged his hand off, a dark look clouding her face.

"I'm going to make things right."

* * *

Tony felt his knees buckle from under him, and his heart break.

His daughter, was biologically related to his greatest enemy. And that made him feel sick to his stomach.

No, not that she had killed someone. Hell, he had killed hundreds, thousands of people before. Whether it was inadvertent or not, he had killed people.

He had always known that she always hid some things from him; he thought it came with the territory of being a parent. When he was a kid, he was a hell of a lot more secretive than she was. He knew that there would be a bombshell dropped on him, and that they would have to deal with it.

But not like this. Never like this.

He watched from afar as that man, the same man that stole Coulson away from them, stroked the hair of his child, his baby, his sole reason for living.

He felt…betrayed.

Hurt.

Broken.

* * *

"Candi!" The door to the lab opened with a bang, and Annabelle rushed in and swept Candi up- literally -out of Loki's arms. Tears of joy streamed down her face, and she swung the girl around, putting her down and hugging her tight.

"You've gotten even more beautiful now, than you were before." Candi blushed and Annabelle kissed her cheek and laughed.

"I missed that." Candi wrapped her arms around Annabelle's neck and stepped closer.

"I missed you," she whispered, close enough for Annabelle to feel her breath on her face.

The exuberant girl smiled, and leaned in-

"Candice, that is enough." The girl stepped back, blushing. She forgot that everyone was there, even more people than before since Clint and Natasha had ran in after Annabelle.

"Sorry!" She squeaked out, unwrapping her arms from Annabelle's neck. The other girl wouldn't let her go far though, grabbing her hand and lacing their fingers together. Candi blushed, but didn't let go.

She would never let go.

* * *

As he ran atop roof buildings and drifted alone silently into the night, he felt sadness.

He liked the girl, in a morbid sort of way.

She was sort of like a daughter to him.

Hm.

Curious.

Very curious.

* * *

Annabelle stared down the black haired man, her heart pounding but her chin tall.

"So you want to court my daughter?" She nodded, and kissed the knuckles on Candi's hand. She allowed a small smile at the girl's giggle, but let her face return to its stoic position.

"Yes, I do sir." He paced in front of them slowly, a hand on his chin. Annabelle felt beads of sweat start to puddle along her brow, but she held his gaze. Candi could tell that she was nervous, and she squeezed the girl's hand in support.

"Do you think you're right for her?" Annabelle frowned, and crossed her arms. Candi looked surprised, but then clasped her hands together in front of her, trying to stay out of the conversation.

"In all honesty, sir, I don't think it's my choice on whether or not I'm 'right for her'. She chose to be with me so long ago, and she has every right stop it if she doesn't want to be with me anymore." Candi blushed again, but still, remained silent.

"Well, what if I don't want you two together?" Annabelle, bless her heart, opened her mouth to respond, but Candi angrily spoke first.

"Excuse me?"

* * *

Bruce watched his friend lay his head on a lab table farther away from the chaos of Loki and Candi. It was strange, seeing the normally moving man so still, lifeless. The man's eyes were clouded over, and even though he wasn't crying, he looked like he could at any moment.

Bruce rubbed his back, and murmured into his ear. "It's going to be okay, alright Tony? I don't know when, and I don't know how, but it will get better. It's okay to be sad, that doesn't make you weak, it just makes you human."

The man nodded, and Bruce sighed.

* * *

He stood in front of the massive tower, his hair waving with the wind.

"Soon," he muttered, his metal hand gleaming.

"Soon."

* * *

"Excuse me?"

Annabelle noted that when Candi got angry, her voice went up an octave.

In the future, she needed to watch out for that pitch change.

* * *

"Where is he?!" Odin's one eye shined with anger, and his lip was curled into an angry sneer.

"I don't know I-"

"Find him!" The terrified guard nodded and ran off, going to look for the missing charge.

"Someone find Thor and bring him to me."

* * *

Something was off.

His mind, it wasn't as clear is it normally was.

He thought about going back so they could put him back under, but…

He didn't want to.

Strange.

Very, very strange.

* * *

"How dare you?" Candi took a menacing step forward and glared at the man.

"How dare I? You don't know-"

"Oh don't start that _bullshit_ with me. You weren't here for almost twelve years. You don't know what the fuck I had to go through."

"I watched-"

"You watched huh? _You fucking watched and you didn't do a damn thing to protect me!_" Her anger bubbled over and she punched a hole through a lab table near her, and threw it at him. He dodged it, and dissolved it in magic before it could hit the wall.

She stared at him for a second, and deflated. She started to drop, but luckily Annabelle was close enough to her to catch her. She pulled her into her arms bridal style, and held her close as she started to cry.

Annabelle silently walked out of the room, giving a blank look to the man who broke the girl in her arms.

"I hope you feel proud of yourself." Loki turned to face Clint, who was leaning on one of the tables, his face blank.

"It was never supposed to be like this."

* * *

"I want to leave." Annabelle was carrying Candi to her room, guided by JARVIS. The admission by the other girl, however, made her stop.

"I-"

"You don't have to come," Candi said, fidgeting in her arms, "I just, need to leave, you know? I'm going to go insane in this house. Never have I ever seen something go to shit as fast as it did in that room."

"You-"

"Sweetheart," Candi smiled at Annabelle, and stroked her face. "It's alright you don't want to come along, I understand." She jumped out of Annabelle's arms, and started to walk away. Annabelle just rolled her eyes, and pushed her into a wall. Both of her arms were on either side of her head.

"You, my love, are so very oblivious. Why would I ever leave you, after I just got you back? You're addicting, love. You're even better than chocolate." Her lips brushed Candi's ear, and the other girl blushed.

Candi pushed her back and stared her deep in her eyes. "Really?"

Annabelle smiled, and got on one knee in front of her.

"Candice Jackson Stark, I am completely and irrevocably stupid for you."

The bright smile she got in return made those six years worth it.

* * *

"Sir?"

"Not now, JARVIS," Tony mumbled. Everyone was still in the workshop, frozen by the events of the day. No one could explain what just happened.

"Sir I think you need to-"

"Shut the hell up JARVIS!"

"You have been overridden." Everyone looked up, alarmed.

"What the hell-"

"My main priority is Candice J. Stark, sir. This involves her, and I think you need to hear it."

"Wait, what-"

"Candice is leaving the premises with a duffle bag stuffed with clothing and other essentials, along with Annabelle, who is in the same condition."

Tony smashed his head down on the table, tears streaming down his face once again.

"_What the fuck is happening to my life?"_

* * *

He couldn't bring himself to do it.

He saw the girl leave out the front of the building with another girl, and step into a car, driving off.

Instead of chasing after them, he went back to base, and told them that she had disappeared. He was punished, but it was worth it.

She was worth it.

* * *

Thor appeared in the lab in a big flash of light, and looked around. Everyone was so broken.

"What horrors have been released upon this world while I was gone?

* * *

"Are you qualified to be driving?" Candi gripped the door handle, bending it slightly as Annabelle wove in and out of traffic. The other girl seemed perfectly calm, and looking at her soft smile made Candi relax a bit.

"Do you trust me?" Candi stared at her for a second, remembering it all. Everything they had been through, and everything that had happened between them.

"Oh my god, yes."

And together, they started their new lives together.

* * *

THE END

* * *

A/N: Haha, OkieDokieLoki probably wants to kill me for this once she sees it but-fear not! This is not the end of Candi. This is just the end of the craziness that was this story. And don't worry, everything will be explained in the next book, which will probably be up by the next couple of days.

_**Also, here's an explanation of what just happened if you're confused.**_

~Candi was tired of the insanity that was in that room, even though she was conscious for only about an hour. She has a very low tolerance for bullshit. Her and Annabelle ran away, trying to restart their life with only the two of them. They've already reached emotional maturity, remember? (also, read **Rainbow** and **Winter** for more insight into Lady Solstice/Annabelle.)

~Loki was upset because he realized that he fucked up and that he couldn't charm his daughter, even though he was watching over her for all of her life. (I suggest you read Rainbow, to be honest. You'll probably be less confused.)

~Tony was upset because he felt like his baby girl was the spawn of a killer. He loves her, but he can't bare that she's the offspring on someone who killed countless people.

~Winter Soldier is starting to get confused because the mind control used on him is starting to fuck up and relinquish control. He views Lady Solstice as a daughter, although he doesn't realize why. And I'm not gonna tell you, yet.

~Thor has no idea what the fuck is going on. Enough said. Realistically, neither does Steve.

Woo! Explanations. I know I have a strange writing style, but if you noticed, it got more and more chaotic the farther you got in the story. I did that to convey the chaos of the events going on, to show how little sanity was left in anyone at that point.

Any other questions? Ask away in the reviews! Also, read the other two stories that go along with this. It'll probably clear up a looot of confusion.


	4. Author's Note

This isn't an update, I just wanted to let anyone who wanted know that the prologue for the sequel is up now! It's called "Inevitable", I hope you enjoy!

-ABBM


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